President Barack Obama prepared to take the ceremonial oath of office Monday on crisp sunny day in the nation’s capital as visitors and local residents streamed toward the National Mall to witness the event. We’ll be live blogging the day, and will have live video coverage here starting around 11 a.m.

The Obama family attended church Monday morning, and a ceremonial swearing in ceremony will start at 11:30 local time outside the U.S. Capitol overlooking the National Mall. The last time a ceremonial service took place was in 1985 for President Ronald Reagan’s second term. (Mr. Obama was officially sworn in at a small ceremony Sunday.)

While Mr. Obama will get a lot of attention for what he says as he kicks off his second term, a good chunk of the world will be focused on what First Lady Michelle Obama. This morning going to church, Mrs. Obama is wearing a navy Thom Browne coat and dress with fabric designed on the style of a man’s silk tie.

Ben’s Chili Bowl had a handful of patrons breakfasting Monday morning, including several visitors who were headed for the mall. The diner is a longtime fixture of the historically African-American U Street neighborhood and proudly displays pictures of Mr. Obama’s visit there ahead of his first inauguration four years ago.

House and Senate leaders are having coffee at the White House ahead of the inauguration – a sign that President Obama is hoping to set a conciliatory tone at the beginning of his second and final term. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor tweets: “Headed to the @WhiteHouse with my wife Diana for coffee with the President, Vice President and their lovely wives.”

Richard Mahoney, of Baton Rouge, La., stood on the steps of a Capital Hill town house across from the Supreme Court and called on Barack Obama to repent. He was surrounded by 8 adults and children holding signs reading “Stop Obama, Stop Abortion.” “The truth will set you free, share this with your president,” he said as he passed out pamphlets. Some Inauguration attendees yelled for the group to “quit it” or “go home.” A few others thanked the man for the literature.

David Axelrod, a top adviser for President Obama’s successful presidential campaigns, said at the White House this morning: “It feels good that he got a new contract.” As for Obama’s acceptance speech, he predicted: “I think the speech is going to be great.”

An interesting historical fashion footnote: Thom Browne criticized President Obama’s wardrobe in a 2010 WSJ magazine interview. He said in the interview:

“Obama could be dressed so much better. It looks like his clothing just doesn’t fit him. What is he doing? He’s a politician. My brother is a politician, and unfortunately they are too concerned that their constituents will not appreciate them looking better than everyone else. As opposed to thinking, “I should dress well because that’s what people want to see.” I saw a documentary on the Queen Mum during the war and she still dressed to go out and see the people because they expected it. They wanted to see a queen. They didn’t want to see her looking like them.”

Some visitors were opting to find warmer ways to see the events. Kathy Royal-Parker, of Oxon Hill, Md, was outside the African American Civil War Museum with cousins from Starke, Fla., where she said they planned to watch a screening of the ceremony. Before it began, Ms. Royal-Parker’s grandson David, five years old, stood by a statue commemorating African-American soldiers who fought in the conflict. “Happy inauguration, Obama!” she said as she took a picture on her cellphone.

Mr. Obama’s inauguration today is in large part the result of one of the best-planned and best-executed re-election campaigns in American political history. His main challenge today could be showing the country that he can now pivot back to the business of governing the country – an area where some critics say he’s had less success.

Already, there are signs that Mr. Obama sees merit in bringing the power of his national political operation to bear on some of the difficult policy problems facing Washington, including the rapidly-rising federal debt and immigration. Mr. Obama recently announced that he would essentially re-tool his political campaign, Obama for America, into a tax-exempt nonprofit known as Organizing for Action. It will generate grassroots support for the president’s policy priorities, such as a balanced approach to deficit reduction. But it’s still unclear how much Mr. Obama really intends to rely on the outsider approach as he confronts a hostile GOP House and political divisions within his own party.

An interesting question today will be how much political pressure Obama seeks to exert in his inaugural address. It’s typically a time for rising above the political fray. But the president’s experience in 2012 might have taught him that he does best when he’s mixing it up.

How do you market icy snacks for an outdoor event in January when snow is a late-afternoon possibility? Frozen Yo is trying an offer of a collector’s chip and a free serving if you spend $5. So far, no takers at the Farragut Square location, but plenty of amused passersby.

David McGrew of Gerber Tours led a group of middle schoolers and chaperons from Beacon Country Day School outside Denver, Colo., onto the National Mall. It was his sixth inauguration, and fifth as a tour guide.

McGrew said that at Obama’s first inauguration, the Mall was so packed he was standing next to the Washington Monument. This year, there was open space much closer, near the Smithsonian Castle. “Four years ago, the electricity was apparent for days in advance,” he said. This year, “I didn’t feel it until they got here on the Mall,” when the students started to realize that “this is history.”

The president’s motorcade has arrived at the capitol at 10:53. On the way, White House pool reporter estimates crowds were about four or five people deep along parade route railings in most spots, and up to 30 deep in a few places. There were still some open front-row spots along the route.

Patty Green, along with her 78-year-old mother and 6-year-old son, watched CNN’s inauguration broadcast on the Mall. Green said she brought her son because “I wanted him to be part of history and let him know that anything’s possible.”

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R.,S.C.), one of the most conservative members of the House, said as he filed out onto the West Front of the Capitol for the inauguration, acknowledged: “We lost on Nov. 6. But 44% of the people in my district voted for this gentleman. It’s an honor to represent them out here. “

Rep. John Lewis (D., Ga.), a veteran civil rights leader, noted that the month and day were rife with historical significance, coming on Martin Luther King’s Birthday and in the wake of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and in advance of the 50Th anniversary of the March on Washington. “It’s history again,’’ Mr. Lewis said as he stood before a mall packed with a crowd that stretched to the Lincoln Memorial. “Fate and history coming together.’’

“Hail to the Chief” is the president’s more-or-less official anthem. It’s from the early 19th century and was played at Martin Van Buren’s inauguration in 1837, according to Wikipedia. That is old school.

Johniece Reynolds curled up against a window three stories above Pennsylvania Avenue, struggling to stay awake before the start of the inauguration parade. The sleepy 6-year-old girl wearing a pink Obama family T-shirt woke at 3:30 a.m. to drive with her parents drive to Washington from their Stafford, Va., home. The family arrived at the Newseum at 6 a.m. to obtain this coveted window side perch.

“I wanted to bring her here to see history, especially on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so she can share this with the next generation,” her mother Susan Reynolds said.

Mrs. Reynolds made arrangements to be at the downtown museum along the parade route days after the president’s re-election. Four years ago she was among the hundreds who were directed to an underpass and were unable to see the swearing in.

“This time I didn’t want to miss it, and I wanted to be inside,” she said.

Technical glitches broke up the live broadcast to the crowd at the Washington Monument making it nearly impossible to hear Schumer’s speech or the invocation. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was broken up, as was Lamar Alexander’s talk.

In his speech, Obama leaves little doubt from the start that he will focus on the job left to do for ordinary people … the truths of the founding fathers are self-evident. But they’ve never been self-executing.

Brooklyn Whiteman‘s hands were among the smallest clapping among thousands of others at the Newseum in Washington following President Obama’s oath. He didn’t make it last time–he’s just one year old. An Obama button was affixed to Brooklyn’s navy blue sweater.

“I wanted him to witness democracy in action,” said his mother, Sukeena Whiteman, of Fredericksburg, Va. She brought her two sons to the event. “I don’t think I’ll see another African-American man elected president in my life. I wanted them to see this, not just read about it in a history book.”

Senate Majortiy Leader Mitch McConnell releases statement as Kelly Clarkson hits the high notes: “Every four years on Inauguration Day, America shows the world that our major political parties can disagree with civility and mutual respect. It is in this spirit that I congratulate President Obama on his inauguration to a second term and wish him well in the fulfillment of his duty to lead the U.S. at home and abroad over the next four years. The President’s second term represents a fresh start when it comes to dealing with the great challenges of our day; particularly, the transcendent challenge of unsustainable federal spending and debt. Republicans are eager to work with the President on achieving this common goal, and we firmly believe that divided government provides the perfect opportunity to do so. Together, there is much we can achieve.”

There’s already a rainbow flag flying outside the Mayflower hotel, ahead of the gay equality group Human Rights Campaign hosting its inauguration event there tonight. Gay campaigners are heralding references to the Stonewall riots and gay marriage in the president’s speech, and there’s likely to be a lot of celebrating there tonight.

Some more thoughts: In his speech, Mr. Obama sounded like the community organizer he used to be in his windup: individual citizens “represent our greatest hope” and “have the power to set this nation’s course.” Perhaps a sign that he’s really investing a lot of hope in his ongoing campaign machine, which he and wife Michelle refer to as a “movement.”

Rev. Luis Leon, delivering the benediction, is the minister of St. John’s Episcopal Church just opposite the White House, and in that capacity has preached several times to the president and his two predecessors. His call Monday for blessing on “all of us,” including new immigrants and Daughters of the American Revolution, gay and straight Americans alike, is in keeping with some of his sermons there. Two years ago he told a congregation that included the Obamas that Jesus “likes to shock us” and that the novel The Help was an example of times when skirting the rules was the right thing to do. The reverend, who arrived in the United States in 1961 as a 12-year-old from Cuba, told the story of accepting a good citizenship award and $50 from the DAR in Rome, Georgia, when he was graduating high school there. “Now the problem was, I wasn’t a citizen,” he said at the time, to laughter.

President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address was more economical than his first – about 2,100 words versus around 2,400 last time. Its message was also much more focused, less far-reaching. It’s a sign of a president who has found his political stride in a single, potentially powerful idea: ensuring that everyone gets treated fairly by society, through what he refers to as “collective action.”

“We have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action,” he said at one point.

“While the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American,” he said in another of the speech’s high points. “That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.”

At another point, he said:

“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.” (Photo: Associated Press)

A bundled-up crowd started to flow off of the Mall after the inaugural address. His speech was met at at times with cheers and waving flags. Even at the front of the mall, attendees watched on large monitors. The figures on the west front of the Capitol were impossible to make out.

”We thought it was great,” said Delcin Wells, an educational consultant from Dallas who watched with her husband, Theodore. Ms. Wells liked that the president referenced gun control. “I really want him to stick with that even though it’s going to be a hard battle,” she said. “I’m just hoping that Congress is listening to him,” she said. “This day is always inspiring and then tomorrow comes and all the bickering starts again.”

Before heading into lunch at the Capitol, Obama conducted a brief signing ceremony. He signed a proclamation to commemorate the inauguration entitled, “National Day of Hope and Resolve, 2013,” and official nominations of John Brennan to be CIA director; former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense; Sen. John Kerry to be secretary of state, and Jacob Lew to be secretary of the Treasury.

At the lunch, former President Bill Clinton chatted amiably with House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) as the two stood next to each other during the introductions. Mr. Clinton‘s wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also gave a warm greeting to House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.). And Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D., Vt.) shared a laugh with conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. More.

More Congressional reaction: Rep. Fred Upton (R.,Mich.) “He missed an opportunity to reach out in a bipartisan manner. But we are here to look forward not to look back.’’

Rep. Henry Waxman (D.,Calif.), ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said he was “delighted he made his first point (of policy priorities) as global warming.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.,Ala.), ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, faulted Obama for not saying anything about the looming budget problem and the need to overhaul entitlements. “The president’s greatest failing of all is that he will not tell the American people that we are on an unsustainable course. If the president doesn’t do that, how do you ask people to tighten their belts. On the “takers’’ quote: “They are a little sensitive about it. The president should recognize that’’ there is a growing “danger of dependency’’ on government aid.

The crowd cheers “Myr-lie! Myr-lie! Myr-lie!” as a group, presumably including inauguration speaker and civil rights leader Myrlie Evers-William, enters the parade viewing stand outside of the White House. People in the stands have cheered pretty much every tour bus as it passes through this stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue so they seem especially excited to have a person to direct their enthusiasm towards. Other dignitaries are also starting to take their seats in the stand.

Some people in the viewing viewing stands for the Inaugural Parade along Pennsylvania Avenue say they arrived at 6 a.m. to hold seats. Some people found another way to get a good view–on the rooftop balconies of hotels on 16th Street, near the parade’s finish line opposite the West Wing.

The longest line at the Canadian Embassy isn’t for a view of the Inaugural Parade, even though the building on Pennsylvania Avenue offers a great view. It’s for a Beaver Tail, a pastry from our northern neighbor.

Canadians say its a presidential approved treat; signs say President Obama sampled one on a 2009 trip to Ottawa.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are “totally simpatico,” Mr. Biden said in an interview that aired the same day the two men took the oath of office to begin their second term. “There is complete openness,” Mr. Biden said in an interview with CNN. “We sometimes disagreed on tactic…but we’ve never disagreed on policy.”

Excited cheers as the first black SUVs pull up in front of the presidential reviewing stand for the inaugural parade. A little later, the impatient crowd stops chanting “I Gotta Feeling” and turns to cries of “Wolf Blit-Zer!” “Wolf Blit-Zer!” The chant draws giggles from some in the media stand but the CNN anchor remains deadpan.

From the pool report: It’s warmed up a little and is now 42 degrees and sunny. First block or so of route that can be seen from here is lined with onlookers who began cheering as the motorcade passed. In this early segment of the parade route, they are about 1-3 deep.

Finally, the crowd outside the White House is cheering for what it’s been waiting for: the president and first lady walking along Pennsylvania Avenue, trailed by a flotilla of cars (Motorcade seems to be an understatement here. There seem to be two dozen.) CNN anchors just turned to wave at them and got a wave back from the couple.

Crowd is extremely ambivalent about D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. He gets only a few scattered shouts as he walks by the stand. Mayor Gray won a victory last week when it was announced that Obama’s presidential limo would use the “Taxation Without Representation” D.C. license plates.

A White House official says the president, the first lady, the vice president and Ms. Biden will be joined in their reviewing stand by Congressional leaders, Supreme Court justices, governors, the Joint Chiefs and White House staff as well as area elementary school students and some of the Tuskegee Airmen and their families.

First Lady Michelle Obama was wearing a pair of custom, one-of-a-kind Reed Krakoff boots in blue suede during the Inaugural parade. She changed into them after wearing J. Crew pumps to the morning prayer session.

A fresh chant of “Fired up, ready to go!” gets a broad grin from the president, and a raised arm in support from the first lady, as they’re seated in the front row of the reviewing stand for the parade. Malia Obama has just produced a cellphone and snapped her parents and Sasha appears to have egged them on to kiss so she can take a picture on hers, too. The girls are using their phones to capture the beginning of the full parade.

Hawaii follows the armed services in leading off the parade, with the Punahou High School Marching Band and JROTC Color Guard, followed by a float of the president’s birthplace complete with volcano and message commemorating the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Next up, it’s first-in-the-nation Iowa, represented by the Isiserettes Drill & Drum Corps, who are dancing energetically — warding off the cold, no doubt. The Miami University of Ohio cheerleaders and baton-twirlers following them are moving even faster though — no wonder, as it’s getting seriously cold and they’re wearing a lot less.

A float from the.Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission of South Carolina was bearing rice in recognition of the crops produced by slaves, and sweetgrass baskets. The commission notes that it’s especially proud to honor Michelle Obama’s ancestor Jim Robinson, a plantation slave in Georgetown, S.C. This is in addition to the eight floats designed by the inauguration committee — four of the states Hawaii, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Delaware, and four representing themes that the committee shows “honor the extraordinary progress we’ve made as a nation.”

It’s certainly a diverse lineup.

Delaware is represented by a Chinese-American folk troupe. The state float bears a model of the state capitol, which seems to get a surprising amount of recognition from people here. They may also have been applauding the arrival of a huge marching band from the nearby University of Maryland, which has some terrific tumbling. Pennsylvania’s float, which follows, comes and goes with little fanfare.

Several very popular delegations in a row: civilian re-enactors of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the first formal Union Army unit of free black men, horses and riders from A Therapeutic Equine Assisted Self-Confidence Experience, a group for soldiers with PTSD and their families, and a mariachi band from Texas. Less enthusiasm for a NASA float, which might not bode so well for the space agency in budget fights.

Right behind the Multi-Jurisdictional Mounted Police Drill Team and Color Guard from Michigan: six men with shovels and wheelie bins.

The president is greeting people in the viewing stand and still waving and joking with Joe Biden. The other Obamas seem to have gone inside. And it’s now officially dark out here, though the avenue is bright with floodlights.

A political message from one of the last official floats, representing civil rights campaigns: an image of protesters urging support for the Dream Act. Right after them there’s a huge cheer for the Lesbian and Gay Band Association. And they’re belting out Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory.” Really!

One more nod to black civil rights history on a day that also celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday: the arrival of the Little Rock Central High School Band of Arkansas. The final division is opening now with U.S. Air Force units marching to their song, “Off we go, into the wild blue yonder!” And there’s a lot of anticipation for the Tuskegee Airmen Float, coming soon.

It’s getting near the end of the parade, signaled by the arrival of the Coast Guard units. There are about a dozen more bands after them, including a military spouses group from Michigan, and the Londonderry High School Marching Band and Color Guard of New Hampshire, whom we assume Joe Biden will certainly want to see. Both he and the president are also having chats with others in the reviewing stand, including Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The military spouses were worth the wait, bringing up the rear with a sleeping child in a stroller and another child in a backpack.

Also more than 60 black horses from Culver Academies in Indiana (and another cleanup crew getting a big round of applause and a thumbs up from the president.)

There’s actually a really long three-way conversation in progress between Messrs. Obama, Biden and LaHood going, and we’d like to be the other side of the viewing glass to hear it. Also, it has to be warmer inside the reviewing box.

Comments (5 of 34)

while his hand is on the Bible, ask him who denied the americans in libya, requested security. Then ask who changed Petraeus' report that said it was a terror attack.....to video induced.

5:45 pm January 21, 2013

Let's see wrote:

cut the military by a trillion, barebone nukes, with terrorism on the rise....while wasting a trillion on stimulus, with it's porkulous paybacks and welfare expansion....and taking away medicare money from seniors and seniors to be.

Hooray.

5:43 pm January 21, 2013

4 more years wrote:

Our nukes have already been reduced from 5000 to 1500, and he is now about to take us down to 300...while China isn't even part of a treaty, and some estimates put them at 1800. Heck, we don't even know. A prepared enemy could easily target 300 nukes.
Great plan.
sarcasm

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.